Game 1: What Does It Mean? – Dedicated to Ray Roberts

Ray Roberts is one of the better sports radio personalities in Seattle, not because he is always right, but because he is his own man. He had one of his classic meltdowns on the Brock and Salk show yesterday when Salk asked what the first game of the season meant. Should fans be excited? Was is more meaningful that than last year’s opening win? Roberts eviscerated Salk for about two full minutes telling him that each game should be taken independently, and not extrapolated into something more.

At the risk of finding Ray beating my door down, I wanted to at least look back to my recap of the game last year to see if I felt as flat as I remember. Take a read of some of my comments in that post-game write-up:

I feel like I need to take a shower after that game. 28-0 never felt so unsatisfying.

Housh was double and triple-teamed all day. He looked frustrated, and seemed to have some words for the Seahawks sideline about play calling. Something to watch.

Our defense gets a shutout with very few memorable plays. Any tackles for a loss? Can’t remember any. A few sacks, but no consistent pressure.

Matt looked horrible in the first half. He was forcing balls for no good reason.

The Rams secondary was either really good, or our passing game is not what I thought it would be. Our receivers were well covered all day. I know we piled up the yards, but there was not a bunch of space to make plays.

I wasn’t entirely accurate in my assessment, as John Carlson never did become the threat I thought he would last year, but much of what I wrote proved indicative of what was to come. Comparing that outing to the one this past Sunday is like night and day. This was a far more encouraging performance against a vastly superior opponent. The Seahawks defense hasn’t played a game like that in at least two seasons. Matt’s decision making was nearly flawless (even on the interception), and his throws were accurate. There are young players contributing to the result that are likely to improve over time, and there were good players not playing, set to return in the next few games.

None of this means that 2010 is going to be a banner year, but this was a far more solid foundation to build on than the opener in 2009.